BIO
Composer Gabriela Ortiz is Professor of Composition at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She has written works for chamber ensemble, orchestra, opera, dance and film, collaborating with poets, playwrights and historians. Her creative process explores the connections between gender issues, social justice, environmental concerns and racism, as well as the multiculturalism brought about by globalization, technological development and mass migration. This engagement is patent in her three operas: Únicamente la verdad, about the war on drugs; Ana y su sombra, about illegal migration between Mexico and the United States; and Luciérnaga, about the violation of university autonomy in the student movement of 1968. Distinguished with a 2024 Universidad Nacional award from UNAM, her Yanga album and cello concerto Dzonot were both Grammy winners in 2026, and her Revolución Diamantina won the Latin Grammy for composition in 2025.
